Month: July 2015

Piloted driving at Audi is approaching production readiness at race pace. On one of the world’s most challenging race tracks, the Sonoma Raceway in California, the latest generation of the Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept has surpassed previous top performances once again. Audi will be offering piloted driving for the first time in the upcoming generation of the Audi A8.

“In Sonoma, we took the Audi RS 7 piloted driving concept to its physical limits lap after lap, and it handled the task with uniform precision,” says Thomas Müller, who is responsible for the development of brake, steering and driver assistance systems at Audi. “The car turned in lap times that were better than those of sports car drivers.” The RS 7 took just 2:01.01 minutes to complete the 4,050-meter (2.5 mi) circuit.

For some time now, Audi has been testing piloted driving under increasingly challenging conditions. In October 2014, an RS 7 nicknamed “Bobby” already completed a driverless lap on the Hockenheimring at speeds up to 240 km/h(149.1 mph). The new generation of the car is named “Robby,” has a power output of 412 kW (560 hp) and is around 400 kg (881.8 lb) lighter than its predecessor. Whether braking, steering or accelerating, the piloted car controls all driving functions fully autonomously and with maximum precision.

Audi is also testing piloted driving in the challenging situation of real road traffic.
At the start of 2015, “Jack” – an Audi A7 piloted driving concept with many near-production solutions – drove on public highways from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Shortly thereafter, this car also drove autonomously on German autobahns at speeds up to 130 km/h (80.8 mph). At CES Asia in May 2015, journalists also had an opportunity to experience piloted driving – in the traffic of megacity Shanghai.

The development work, which includes driving on a very wide array of testing grounds, is yielding valuable knowledge for series-production systems – from the sensor technology and data processing to vehicle control and stabilization.

The technologies for piloted driving stand for safety, time savings, efficiency and convenience. The systems can make a valuable contribution to safety, especially when the driver is overwhelmed or underwhelmed by driving tasks. In addition, it gives drivers greater freedom for organizing their time in the car. When used to temporarily assume driving tasks, the predictive technology makes driving more efficient, reduces stress and enhances comfort. Piloted driving will make its production debut in the next generation of the luxury-class sedan, the Audi A8. The systems can assume control of the car during parking or in stop-and-go traffic on freeways at speeds up to 60 km/h (37.3 mph).

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Successful weekend for the Audi customer teams in Australia and Italy: In the Audi R8 LMS ultra, they took a victory and two podium places.

Nathan Antunes wins in Australia

Commanding victory by Nathan Antunes in Australia: In race two of the Australian GT Championship round held on the city street circuit in Townsville, he celebrated his third win of the season with a more than ten-second advantage in the Audi R8 LMS ultra. Previously, the Australian on taking fourth place in the first race had barely missed the podium. In the Trophy Class, Mark Griffith in the Audi R8 LMS finished race two as the runner-up, ahead of his brand colleagues Greg Taylor and Barton Mawer.

Audi R8 LMS ultra on podium twice in Italy

Podium success in Italy: On the fourth race weekend of the Italian GT Championship at Mugello, the drivers of Audi customer team Audi Sport Italia were battling for victory in both races and clinched two podium places. In race one, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Zonzini in their Audi R8 LMS ultra took second place. In the second race, their team-mates Marco Mapelli and Andrea Amici finished as the runners-up as well. Capello/Zonzini, who had crossed the finish line in third place, dropped to fourth position due to a retroactive time penalty.

Filipe Albuquerque celebrates victory in ELMS

Success for WEC driver Filipe Albuquerque in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS): Together with his British team-mates Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell the Portuguese in an LMP2 sports car of Team Jota Sport won in round three of the season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Audi racers inspire employees in Neckarsulm

The Audi drivers and their cars that were successful at the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Le Mans visited the Neckarsulm factory on Wednesday. Edward Sandström and Laurens Vanthoor, who were part of the winning quartet in the Eifel, were kept busy signing autographs during the employee event, as were Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer. The factory driver trio finished third in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro at Le Mans in June. The LMP1 sportscar, as well as the Audi R8 LMS that won at the Nürburgring – driven by Fässler and Sandström respectively – spooled off several demonstration laps around the factory premises with the enthusiastic employees looking on. The drivers were also guests at the workers’ assembly.

Sporty Le Mans drivers

The Audi drivers Benoît Tréluyer and Marco Bonanomi used the summer break in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) for some sporting activities. Bonanomi, in a triathlon sprint in his hometown Lecco (Italy), an Italian Championship round, set a personal best time of 1h 03m 23s and took 50th place overall in a field of 380 participants. In Sirmione, Italy, at the end of June, he had completed a triathlon covering the Olympic distance in 2h 17m 50s. Benoît Tréluyer competed in a mountain bike event in Les Deux Alpes, France, this weekend.

Jamie Green’s children drive an Audi Junior quattro

Jamie Green’s ‘vehicle fleet’ has been enlarged by two Audi models. At Zandvoort, the DTM leader of the standings took possession of two new Audi Junior quattro cars sporting the distinctive black Audi Sport graphics. “It was high time for our two sons to finally starting driving an Audi too,” said the Audi driver. To their father’s delight, Zachary and William Green immediately tried out their new toys with intensity in the paddock at Zandvoort.

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Following a difficult weekend at Zandvoort, Audi continues to lead the DTM drivers’ and manufacturers’ classifications. Quotes after the Dutch DTM round.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “For the whole squad, this has been a pretty difficult weekend. Everyone at Audi Sport would rather be battling for victories than a few points. But in view of the weight situation, Zandvoort, above all, was about limiting the damage. On Sunday, we managed to do that with Mattias (Ekström). With the current regulations in the DTM, you’ve got to cope with weekends like this one as well. Now, we’re looking ahead to the Red Bull Ring where the three manufacturers will be closer again in terms of weight than here.”

Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport): “A seventh, an eighth and two ninth places are obviously not the outcome of a DTM weekend we wish for. But justifying the results only by the performance weights would be too easy. BMW were very strong at Zandvoort and we didn’t make the solid showing here that we were aiming for. That we continue to have two of our drivers at the top of the standings and lead the manufacturers’ classification is a positive. The points we clinched here under difficult conditions may be very important in the end.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) position 13 / position 7“If you want to be in contention for the title in the DTM, points may be just as valuable on some weekends as a trophy. That was the case this time. The race on Sunday was one of the tougher types – in many of the duels with my colleagues I had a ‘box seat’. I personally tried to stay clear of all trouble. That was successful because my Audi RS 5 DTM arrived at the parc fermé without a scratch. The Championship promises to become a thriller. I can now take a breather during my vacation in Italy and then we’re going to go for all-out attack again at Spielberg.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 8 / position 11“We arrived here with different expectations, especially as Zandvoort is a track that really suits me well. On Saturday, in position eight, I achieved the maximum that was possible. On Sunday, I had to settle for eleventh place. One of the reasons, clearly, was the extra weight our cars had on board. On the other hand, we first have to try to move to the front within the Audi family. In order to do that, we need to extract the maximum from the car, which we haven’t managed to do yet.”

Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #27) position 18 / position 9“The race on Sunday was a lot of fun. For me, it was a 60-minute qualifying without being able to take a single deep breath. Obviously, there were a few controversial situations so that the fans will have a lot to discuss. That’s typical for Zandvoort: if you’d like to overtake here, you’ll have to take a certain risk. ‘Thank you’ to my crew for the quickest pit stop in the race. We haven’t won any trophies this weekend, but we’re going to bounce back.”

Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 9 / retirement“Zandvoort is a cool track and the atmosphere here is fantastic. All this would even be better if you were in contention at the front. We didn’t mind scoring the two points on Saturday in view of the high extra weight, but on Sunday, unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of potential. I had a few ‘enemy contacts’ that gave my suspension a beating. That’s why I was forced to retire. The positive: we can now unload weight and hopefully will be battling again for the big instead of the small point scores at Spielberg.”

Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) retirement / position 12“Not an easy weekend for the cars with the four rings but, obviously, looking at the weight distribution, we knew this in advance. My qualifying on Saturday was okay and the one on Sunday, with position five, was very good. The second race went well for a long time too, until some colleagues started playing hardball and using a couple of dirty tricks. We’re going to remember that for the future.”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) retirement / position 13“A weekend with ups and downs. On Saturday, the qualifying session and the race were good up until my mistake and subsequent spin. On Sunday, my Audi felt even better but, unfortunately, in qualifying I got stuck in traffic. From 18th on the grid, it’s obviously difficult. In the end, I finished in 13th place. With a better stop, a leap into points might even have been possible. But in spite of scoring no points in two races I keep leading the standings. That’s a good starting base for the coming races.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM #10) position 14 / position 15“I finished both races, and that’s actually the best I can say about the weekend at Zandvoort. On both days, we weren’t good enough in qualifying. Now we need to analyze why that was the case so that we’ll be able to attack again in the next races. On Sunday, at least my pace in the race was competitive. Unfortunately, on this track, you can’t just get past your opponents even if you’re seven tenths faster some of the time. That’s definitely frustrating.”

Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) retirement / retirement“As expected, it was a tough weekend for all of us. Still, we have to and will take the positives home: we’ve basically got the speed and are in contention. Now we have to make fewer mistakes and extract the maximum from our possibilities. At Spielberg, in three weeks from now, we’re entering the second half of the Championship. A look at the standings shows that everything’s still possible: a victory and I’m back again.”

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In front of 31,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) Audi maintained its one-two lead in the DTM drivers’ standings and first place in the DTM manufacturers’ classification. Audi’s man of the race on Sunday was Mattias Ekström, who in the Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline shone with a recovery.

Following the disappointing result on Saturday, the two-time DTM Champion had the set-up of his RS 5 DTM changed completely for the race on Sunday. However, due to a defect on the cable harness he was unable to do any laps in the warm-up session and subsequently had to settle for grid position 16. In the race, however, he had one of the fastest cars in the field, made up a total of nine positions and scored six valuable points.”

“Today, I was very happy with my car,” said the Swede. “I had some tough duels with Pascal (Wehrlein) and Christian (Vietoris) that were huge fun. It’s positive that I was able to decrease the deficit in the standings and that we’ll be able to reduce weight for the next two races at Spielberg.”

Adrien Tambay scored his first points this season. The Frenchman in the Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM kept Gary Paffett in the Mercedes-Benz at bay in the final stage and finished in ninth place. Mike Rockenfeller in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix trailed Paffett by a narrow margin in eleventh place. The 2013 DTM Champion, who had started from grid position 19, showed a similar recovery as Mattias Ekström.

For Miguel Molina and Jamie Green the race was a disappointment. Molina in the Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM defended position five at the start and was able to keep pace with the lighter BMW cars for a long time. But in the hectic stage following the mandatory pit stops, the Spaniard was heavily attacked by other drivers and dropped to twelfth place with a damaged car. Jamie Green in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg finished out of the points in 13th place. As a result, the overall leader’s advantage over Mattias Ekström and Pascal Wehrlein has shrunk to five points.

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Miguel Molina in the Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline secured grid position five for the second of the two DTM races at Zandvoort (the Netherlands) with a strong lap.

On his second set of tires, the Spaniard managed a ‘nearly perfect lap.’ “More wasn’t possible with the high additional weight. My car feels very good. I’m already looking forward to the race,” said the Audi driver. In an extremely close second qualifying, Molina, behind the four clearly lighter BMW cars, was the only Audi driver in the top ten.

The Audi drivers leading the championship, Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM) and Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), had to settle for positions 18 (Green) and 16 (Ekström). Due to a defect on the cable harness of his RS 5 DTM Ekström was unable to drive a lap in the warm-up session. Following his first trial, Green was in the group of the front runners in qualifying. “But on my second set of tires, I already got caught in traffic on my outlap,” said the Briton. “That was a shame because my car felt very good – better than yesterday and better than in the warm-up.”